Latest news with #MarthaGulati
Business Mayor
17-05-2025
- Health
- Business Mayor
Who needs more exercise: Women or men?
Exercising regularly is known to lower the risk of death, especially from heart problems. But scientists have discovered that that reduction in risk may differ between the sexes, with some people reaping greater benefits in less workout time. So, who has to exercise more to reduce their risk of death: Women or men? It turns out that women may reap these survival benefits more easily than men do. That's according to a large study published in 2024 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology , which included data from more than 412,000 American adults ages 27 to 61, 55% of whom were female. You may like 'The beauty of this study is learning that women can get more out of each minute of moderate to vigorous activity than men do,' study co-lead author Dr. Martha Gulati , director of preventive cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, said in a statement . 'It's an incentivizing notion that we hope women will take to heart.' The researchers collected participants' physical activity data via the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the largest and longest-running health survey in the U.S. The study looked at data collected between 1997 and 2017. Related: 11 minutes of moderate exercise a day cuts early death risk by 20%, huge analysis suggests The survey itself included questions about the types of exercises people performed and at what frequencies, durations and intensities. It also included participants' socioeconomic and demographic characteristics and medical conditions. The study excluded people who had certain health conditions at the start of the study time frame, such as coronary heart disease or cancer. Read More Most melatonin gummies have higher doses than what's on the label Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. The researchers also looked through the National Death Index — a national database of death records — for deaths from any cause, as well as cardiovascular-related deaths. The data from survey participants is linked to this death-record data , so the researchers could then connect the data from their NHIS participants to the mortality data through the end of 2019. Overall, 39,935 participants died in the study timeframe, including 11,670 cardiovascular-related deaths, such as those from heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. About 32% of the women and 43% of the men surveyed said they engaged in regular aerobic exercise , exercising for at least 150 minutes per week. Compared to inactive individuals of the same sex, women who exercised regularly had up to a 24% lower risk of death from any cause. For men who exercised regularly, however, the reduction in mortality risk reached only 15%. Women also gained these survival benefits much more quickly than men did, the study found. In men, the highest reduction in death risk was seen at about 300 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week. That came with an 18% reduction in all-cause mortality. Women saw an equal benefit in less than half that time, at about 140 minutes of MVPA a week. Women who trained more than that each week saw a greater benefit until they also peaked at around 300 minutes of weekly MVPA. That trend held true across all durations of exercise, the researchers found, with women consistently seeing 'proportionately greater benefits' for any amount of exercise than men did. About 20% of women and 28% of men said they engaged in two or more sessions of strength training, such as lifting weights, each week. Overall, though, women reported an average of about 0.85 sessions per week, while men averaged 1.25 sessions per week. On average, the women who strength-trained at least twice a week had a 19% lower mortality risk than women who trained less often or not at all. Men, on average, saw a 11% lower risk compared with inactive men. These benefits were even greater when it came to cardiovascular health specifically. Related: Why is it harder for some people to build muscle than others? Compared with inactive individuals, women who performed aerobic physical activity had a 36% lower cardiovascular mortality risk, while for active men, this risk reduction was about 14%. Muscle strengthening produced similar outcomes, with a cardiovascular risk reduction of 30% for women and 11% for men, compared to baseline. 'What surprised us the most was the fact that women who do muscle strengthening had a reduction in their cardiovascular mortality by 30%,' Gulati told NPR . 'We don't have many things that reduce mortality in that way,' she added. The study did have some limitations, including that people's exercise data was self-reported, so it relied on the participants accurately reporting their activity study also tracked only leisure-time exercise, meaning it didn't count exercise completed during household tasks or as part of a job, which may have also contributed to the results. In addition, the study didn't account for potentially unassessed health issues in some participants, or changes in people's exercise trends over time. That said, the results echo similar findings from a 2011 meta-analysis published in the journal Circulation . This review of 33 studies concluded that there was a stronger link between exercise and lower death risk in women than men. The researchers behind the 2024 study hope their findings could help motivate more women to exercise, whether through traditional ' cardio ' or muscle strengthening regimes including bodyweight exercises or lifting weights. 'I am hopeful that this pioneering research will motivate women who are not currently engaged in regular physical activity to understand that they are in a position to gain tremendous benefit for each increment of regular exercise they are able to invest in their longer-term health,' Dr. Christine Albert , chair of the Department of Cardiology in the Smidt Heart Institute who was not involved in the study, said in the statement.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Proven Stress Management Techniques to Maintain a Healthy Heart
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S.; more than four million women die from ischemic heart disease (IHD) each year, and cardiovascular disease claims more lives than all cancers, respiratory diseases and infectious diseases combined. This risk is even more pronounced among women with intersecting identities; Black women, in particular, are more likely to die of heart disease than white women. They also have the highest rates of hypertension, stroke, heart failure and coronary heart disease among all women in the U.S. More from Flow Space UPDATE: Your State-by-State Guide to Understanding Menopause Insurance Options Despite the fact that women suffer from more heart attacks than men as they age—and are more likely to die from cardiac events—heart disease continues to be seen as a 'man's disease,' and women are generally told to monitor heart health symptoms based on men's cardiovascular systems. Because of this, many women don't even understand their risks. Women are less likely to be referred to cardiac rehabilitation, less likely to be put on statins or beta blockers to pre-empt cardiac events, plus they are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed as a mental health issue. 'Often women don't get screened, not through any fault of their own, but even the medical community often ignores women,' asserted Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute staff physician and cardiologist Dr. Martha Gulati in an interview with Flow Space. 'Bikini medicine—breast and reproductive health—is the norm for how we care for women,' Gulati, who serves as the director of Preventive Cardiology and a cardiology professor at Cedars-Sina, the associate director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center and the Anita Dann Friedman Chair in Women's Cardiovascular Medicine and Research, added. 'We must move beyond the bikini if we are going to care for women throughout their lifespan.' In midlife, caring for the whole body—particularly, when it comes to cardiovascular health—becomes even more critical. 'Heart disease is the leading killer of women, and their risk increases with age,'Gulati said. 'Women need to know if they are at risk; often, they have not been assessed or talked to about their risk.' One of the five major heart disease risk factors for women is hormonal changes associated with menopause. Estrogen has cardioprotective factors, so when estrogen levels decrease in menopause, cholesterol levels and blood vessel elasticity change—and heart disease risk rises. 'Menopause is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease,' Dr. Puja K. Mehta—an associate professor in the division of cardiology at Emory University, director of Women's Translational Cardiovascular Research, and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association—told Flow Space. 'What we mean by this is that a woman's risk of having a heart attack or stroke increases post-menopause compared to pre-menopausal years. A number of risk factors change during the menopause transition, which can vary from woman to woman.' During the transition, 'bad' cholesterol levels may increase, 'good' cholesterol might decrease and blood pressure can elevate. Plaque also builds up in women's arteries faster after menopause than it does in men's bodies as they age. 'Risk factors that might have previously not been present become more likely [during midlife and throughout the menopausal transition],' Gulati explained. 'Many women, for example, spend much of their younger years being told their blood pressure is low. Blood pressure actually increases with age for more women, and, at menopause, blood pressure is often noted to be elevated.' The symptoms of menopause can also impact the heart. Hot flashes and night sweats can increase cardiovascular risk factors, as well as that stubborn 'menopause belly.' While hormone replacement therapy (HRT), can be a critical intervention for the physiological symptoms of menopause, tending to mental health is also a critical form of heart disease prevention, especially in midlife. Various studies have demonstrated that mental health is closely tied to women's heart health—even more so than men's. Depression and anxiety can accelerate women's risk of heart disease, and the psychological stress of heart disease itself may contribute to women's increased risk of mortality following a cardiac event. 'Stress is obviously a normal part of life, and in small doses, it's likely not harmful,' Gulati explained. 'Short exposures to stress often helps us.' She offered the example of someone being motivated by the stress of a deadline to finish a project, or how the stress of a job interview can improve performance. 'Even the acute stress of surgery improves our immune response and often helps us fight infections,' she added. 'That's the good effect of short-term stress.' Although there are forms of 'good stress,' triggering our fight-or-flight response over time can become toxic in the body. Bodies in a state of chronic stress release high levels of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline—which can raise blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels, and increase women's vulnerability to anxiety and depression. Chronic stress can also lead to high blood pressure and disproportionately fuel inflammation in women's bodies, which can sharply increase the risk of major cardiac events. 'Excess stress can be harmful,' Gulati cautioned. 'Chronic stress also can disrupt sleep, affect eating patterns, reduce physical activity, and cause emotional and psychological damage.' Women's bodies see more activation in the left prefrontal cortex of the brain when under stress than men's and a higher activation of the amygdala. Since the amygdala is part of the brain's fear center, the amygdala tells the body to continue its stress response, making women particularly vulnerable to chronic stress—and the more chronic stress we have, the harder it becomes for our prefrontal cortex to calm us down and control our emotional responses. The brain-heart connection 'is very important in both men and women,' Mehta noted, 'however, it seems that women may be particularly susceptible to psychological and psychosocial stress.' Takotsubo syndrome, also called 'broken-heart syndrome—in which sudden emotional or physical stress causes physical symptoms mimicking a heart attack—is a powerful example. More than 85% of cases occur in postmenopausal women, Mehta explained. 'It is unclear why postmenopausal women are more at risk of having a Takotsubo event, but it is thought that microvascular dysfunction and heart artery spasm are important players in this. Even younger women with a history of coronary artery disease, when they are exposed to acute mental stress testing in the laboratory, they can have abnormalities of blood flow to the heart in response to acute mental stress.' Broken-heart syndrome cases reinforce the gendered differences in how women's bodies react to stress physiologically. 'Death of a loved one, acute fear, but also surprise birthday parties have preceded this type of heart attack,' Gulati added. 'An acute surge of stress hormones, [such as] adrenaline, often precedes such events.' Studies have demonstrated that women are more susceptible than men to diminished blood flow during acute stress events, and our microvascular response to stress is associated with poorer health outcomes. Stress in women also disrupts lipid balance, increases platelet aggregation and impairs glucose regulation. 'Menopause can itself increase stress with all its physiological and mental changes that often affect sleep and mood,' Gulati explained. 'Frequent hot flashes can induce stress and anxiety for many women.' In fact, symptoms of menopause include anxiety, mood swings and depression, increasing the mental health burden women carry in midlife. Levels of cortisol also rise naturally as women age, increasing the risks of chronic stress. Gulati noted that stressors like 'work, family, marriage, financial worries, and taking care of someone sick' can happen at any age—but for women in midlife, stress management is even more critical. What that looks like is up to you: 'Some like mindfulness and meditation; some enjoy gardening, nature walks; some need to turn off devices and sleep more, limit social media, which can be a time sink,' Mehta offered. 'Pool exercises can be very helpful. Chair exercises, gentle exercises for seniors, and those with ortho limitations can work with a therapist.' No matter what form it takes, regular physical activity—even a brisk walk—can reduce stress. 'It's also important to exercise, including weight bearing,' she noted, 'to attenuate muscle loss.' 'Stress reduction may result with biofeedback tools, exercise, yoga, tai-chai,' Gulati added. 'Avoiding alcohol, eating healthy and improved sleep can also help reduce stress.' So can tidying up your living spaces; getting organized can decrease stress and improve your sleep. Having sources of emotional support can also be a lifeline. Studies show that women's heart health, more than men's, benefits from consistent relationships with family members and friends. Laughing with friends and loved ones can reduce your heart disease risk in a myriad of ways: Laughter lowers stress, increases blood flow and lowers blood pressure; it also lowers cortisol, increases dopamine and strengthens our emotional resilience. Pets can also make a big difference. 'Dogs can reduce stress—truly, there's some literature on this!' Gulati shared. 'Get a dog for the exercise and stress reduction, with a little unconditional love on the side!' 'Find a friend to go walking or exercise with,' Mehta recommended. 'Turn off late-night TV watching or binging on shows so you can get enough rest, block time in the calendar for self-care… Even a few minutes counts and is better than nothing on busy days. Learn to say 'no' and not over-commit. It can help with reducing stress and making heart healthy choices.' For those who have the option, one of the best strategies to relieve the body of the impacts of chronic stress, is a good vacation—and experts suggest women need them even more than men to really rest and restore their bodies. Monitoring and managing your own stress is important—but don't be embarrassed to ask for help if your efforts are only going so far. 'Sometimes medications may be needed, including potentially the need for hormone replacement therapy for those who need it,' Gulati clarified. 'Occasionally, some people might need medications to control stress.' Whether you're feeling stressed or serene, even the heart-healthiest lifestyle isn't a substitute for screening and addressing your risks. 'It is very important to identify risk factors early, implement lifestyle changes and start treatment if needed instead of waiting and postponing,' Mehta urged. 'Seeking a trusted healthcare provider and communicating that you want a heart health assessment/review of risk factors can be helpful.' 'This is an important time to know your numbers,' Gulati added. 'Get your cholesterol checked, know your Lp(a), know your BP, be screened for diabetes, know your short- and long-term risk of cardiovascular disease. Menopause is such a critical time, and things change, including these risk factors, so it is important to be screened and know what, if anything, has changed and what you can do to lower your risk.'
New York Times
10-03-2025
- Health
- New York Times
How Healthy Are Eggs?
To many nutrition experts, eggs are golden — one of the most accessible and affordable protein sources available. And while the 'affordable' part may currently be up for debate as bird flu drives up the prices, experts point out that eggs are still cheaper than many lean meats and fresh fish. Plus, they're versatile, portable (when hard-boiled) and an easy lift for anyone new to cooking. Here's what we know about them nutritionally, plus some favorite recipes from New York Times Cooking. They're high in cholesterol — but not the kind that harms your health. When Dr. Martha Gulati, the director of preventive cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Smidt Heart Institute, sees patients with high cholesterol, they often ask, 'Can I eat eggs?' It's a fair question. One egg contains 207 milligrams of dietary cholesterol, which is about three times more than you'd get from a sausage link. But the cholesterol in eggs probably won't increase your risk of heart attack and stroke. That's because dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol aren't the same, Dr. Gulati said. Blood cholesterol — specifically low-density lipoprotein, or LDL — is what causes the dangerous plaque accumulation in your arteries and veins. Some blood cholesterol comes from dietary cholesterol, but far more comes from your own liver, she said. Your liver makes more LDL when you eat excess saturated fat. But eggs (unlike sausages) aren't very fatty. One egg contains just 1.6 grams of saturated fat. 'Of all the things I worry about people eating, eggs really aren't that bad,' Dr. Gulati said. The scientific community used to be more divided about dietary cholesterol risks, said Dr. Philip Greenland, a professor of cardiology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. But the Dietary Guidelines for Americans stopped including daily dietary cholesterol limits in 2015, and, in 2019, the American Heart Association published an advisory saying dietary cholesterol is not a major concern for heart disease. That doesn't mean people should eat eggs in excess, Dr. Greenland said. Studies that have shown eggs don't increase blood cholesterol mostly focused on moderate egg consumption — think one egg per day or two every other day, he said. They're a complete protein source. One egg contains more than six grams of protein, which nutrition experts consider high, relative to its 70 total calories. The quality of an egg's protein is also a key benefit, said Sapna Batheja, a dietitian and assistant professor of food and nutrition at George Mason University. Proteins — the building blocks of your body — are all made of various combinations of 20 amino acids. Your body can make 11 of these amino acids itself, but you must get the other nine from food, Dr. Batheja said. Eggs contain all nine, making them a 'complete' protein source. They're rich in choline. Eggs are one of the highest sources of the multitasking nutrient choline, which is important for your muscle control, metabolism, nervous system, mood and memory, among other things. Your body can make some choline on its own, but not as much as it needs, said Razan Hallak, a dietitian at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. One egg contains 169 milligrams of choline, which means two eggs could put you well on your way to meeting the daily recommendation of 550 milligrams for adult males and 425 milligrams for females. Serious choline deficiency is rare in the general public, but most people who are pregnant or nursing don't get enough. The nutrient plays a role in maintaining and creating healthy cells, Dr. Batheja said, and it's important for early brain development. Ready to get cracking? No matter how you prepare them, eggs provide high-quality protein and nutrients, experts said. (But make sure to cook them all the way through to avoid salmonella.) If you're trying to reduce saturated fat in your diet, Dr. Batheja suggested cooking eggs with minimal butter. And if you cook them with oil, it's best to use a heart-healthy option, like olive oil. 'Hard-boiled eggs are absolutely fantastic,' she added. This method only requires water. And although an egg-white omelet is completely fat-free, experts don't typically advise going in that direction. That's because most of the egg's nutrients, including choline, are found in the yolk. To ensure you're eating healthfully when you eat eggs, Dr. Gulati recommended paying attention to the rest of your plate. People often pair eggs with fatty foods like sausage and bacon, which, unlike eggs themselves, do raise your risk for heart disease. Instead, try pairing them with plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Here are some ideas from NYT Cooking. 1. Scrambled Eggs With Soy-Marinated Tomatoes In this take on Chinese stir-fried tomatoes with eggs, chopped tomatoes tossed in a sesame-soy dressing make a juicy contrast to the creamy hot scramble. Recipe: Scrambled Eggs With Soy-Marinated Tomatoes 2. Green Shakshuka With Avocado and Lime Shakshuka usually starts with a tomato-pepper base for simmering eggs. Here, the eggs are set in a sauce of wilted chard and finished with a kick of jalapeño. Recipe: Green Shakshuka With Avocado and Lime 3. Toasted Coconut Rice With Bok Choy and Fried Eggs Toasting the rice in unrefined (virgin) coconut oil gives this dinner a tropical richness. Recipe: Toasted Coconut Rice With Bok Choy and Fried Eggs 4. Grain Frittata With Chile, Lime and Fresh Herbs Hearty with farro and fragrant with shallot and chile, this easy stovetop frittata doesn't even require flipping. Recipe: Grain Frittata With Chile, Lime and Fresh Herbs 5. Egg Curry Packed with spices and fresh ginger, this tomato curry sauce infuses boiled eggs with warming flavors. Recipe: Egg Curry
